d'Arenberg 2019 The Ironstone Pressings

 

If you like your reds with plenty of muscle power you've come to the right place. Released at five years of age - and ready to enjoy - this is a classic big red from fourth-generation McLaren Vale masters d'Arenberg. It is a GSM with 72% grenache, 25% shiraz and a small amount of mourvedre - a regional style favourite. The wine is made old school: open fermenters, basket pressing, lees aging, and the end product is unfined and unfiltered. There is nothing subtle here. You have a wine of power and presence, 15% alcohol, with grippy tannins that demands to be matched with a rib-eye steak. $78. https://www.darenberg.com.au/ 

Hoddles Creek 2023 Junior Pinot Blanc

 

Some wines are captivating from the very first sip. This is one of those wines. Yarra Valley-based Hoddles Creek specialises in chardonnay and pinot noir, but also has several other strings to its bow, including this intriguing pinot blanc. The grape, also known as weißburgunder, is a genetic mutation of pinot noir and is widely grown in Alsace, Germany, northern Italy and in several other European countries, where it produces textural white wines. This has lots of personality. It is hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed, racked as as cloudy juice to old white casks (for texture rather than flavour), held on lees and then bottle with minimal filtration. Lively and super food-friendly. $45. https://www.hoddlescreekestate.com.au/

Crittenden 2022 Cri de Coeur Pinot Noir

Attention to detail in both the vineyard and the winery are hallmarks of the Crittenden ranges. The wines are made with regenerative farming practices and minimal intervention in the vines and thoughtfulness from winemaker Rollo Crittenden in the winery. This flagship pinot from the family-owned Mornington Peninsula producer is an absolute standout: full of depth, structure and textural interest, it finishes soft, sexy and smooth on the palate. Classic cherry and berry flavours merge with savoury/undergrowth/deli notes to deliver a complex but disarmingly easy-to-drink wine that will beguile pinotphiles. Super food friendly. 96/100 from me. $95. www.crittendenwines.com.au

Clonakilla 2023 Chardonnay

 

The Kirk family has been making outstanding wines at Murrumbateman, outside Canberra, for over half a century but also sources grapes from trusted growers outside the region, primarily from the Hilltops, outside Young, and from high-altitude Snowy Mountains. This outstanding chardonnay uses fruit from the Johansen family vineyards outside Tumbarumba, which sit around 700 to 720 metres above sea level. From the third cooler-than-average vintage in a row, this has definite cool-climate flavours; citrus and stone fruit leading the charge. There's lots of refreshment here, along with lashings of minerality. Excellent drinking. $45. https://clonakilla.com.au/